Tag: cricket world cup

Cricket World Cup 2011 is proving to be a boring tournament. It has 14 teams and spread over 43 days. Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games are of 14-16 days. Football World Cup with 32 teams is about 32 days.

When Cricket Word Cup began in 1975 there were eight teams and four matches per day. The gap between matches was not long. In 1987 there were three matches per day. In 2011 it is one match or two matches per day with long gaps for teams in between. India played Bangladesh on 19/2/2011 and its next match against England is on 27/2/2011. In an ODI tournament a team having to wait for 5-8 days to play its next match is strange.

In 2015 the ODI tournament will be restricted to 10 teams. That may make the tournament interesting. Some want minnows to be part of ODI tournament. Sometimes minnows have done well. In 1979 Sri Lanka defeated India. In 1983 Zimbabwe defeated Australia. Kenya defeated West Indies in 1996 and reached semi-final in 2003. Ireland defeated Pakistan in 2007. Now Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe are Test playing nations. Minnows can play in Twenty20 World Cup which will have 16 teams. There are not many people in countries like Ireland, Holland and Bermuda who watch cricket on TV and that may be the reason for their exclusion from ODI format.

The web site for sale of tickets for final and semi-finals crashed soon after tickets went for sale. It is said that 10 million people wanted to buy tickets online but I doubt that figure. In cricket publicity stunts are normal. When tickets were put for sale for IPL in South Africa it was said that all tickets were sold within five minutes. When the matches took place there were not many spectators. TV channels should be careful about what they report and should not function as PR agencies.

Football World Cup 2010 is going on. India is not one of the 32 countries participating in the World Cup. Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Holland, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Korea, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay and USA are the participants.
India was a participant in Hockey World Cup 2010 and Cricket World Cup 2010 which had less than 32 teams. India was not able to make it to Football World Cup 2010. Why was India not good enough for football?
One view is that Indians are not strong enough for football. In cricket 5â€™4â€ tall batsman can hit a 7â€™ tall fast bowler for a six. In football stamina is needed.
That may be a reason but not the only reason. Hockey needs stamina and Indians were in hockey. FIFA rules are complex. We have three countries from Asia, five countries from South America, three countries from North America, twelve countries from Europe, seven from Africa and two from Australia and Oceania.
We see neighbouring countries participating in the World Cup. The twelve countries from Europe and five countries from South America are neighbours. USA and Mexico are neighbours. Algeria and Morocco are neighbours. North Korea and South Korea are neighbours. Ghana and Ivory Coast are neighbours. Cameroon and Nigeria are neighbours. Vast stretch of land from Poland to China is unrepresented.
FIFA plays with geography. Some countries that are part of Asia are considered part of Europe. Some countries not part of Asia are considered part of Asia. Considering Australia and New Zealand as part of Asia deprived two Asian countries of their chance to participate in the World Cup. One could have been India.
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About Vincent Augustine D’Souza

Vincent Augustine D'Souza is a blogger, author, novelist and quiz master. His quiz site is Go 4 Quiz. He is known as walking encyclopedia. His novels KING and POPE are available in ebook format. Currently he is working on his English Konkani Dictionary.

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KING - A novel by Vincent Augustine D'Souza that shows some contemporary views as wrong. It shows a way to an ideal world.

Excerpts from the King
Chapter 33 - Horse Flu
November was coming to an end. Horses started having flu. Horse flu spread to people. On 1st December one person in Peking died of horse flu.
Next day one person in Canton and one person in Peking died of horse flu.
Third day one person each in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Canton and Peking died of horse flu. Flood in Istanbul.
On 4th December one person each in Saigon, Tokyo, Dacca, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Canton and Peking died of horse flu. Horse flu kept spreading to other parts of the world. Read More...